Twenty-Eight

“There you are!” Drew moved past me into the apartment, shoving a giant bottle of Diet Coke into my hands along with a bag of Doritos. “You haven’t answered any of my texts. You left me with no choice but to show up here. At least I brought snacks.”

My heart was still beating madly. I’d been half certain the detectives had come for me when I heard the pounding on the door, but it was just Drew babbling about how the school was buzzing with the news of Paige.

“A bunch of people are organizing a candlelight vigil tonight out at the park for Paige’s safe return.” Drew plopped onto my sofa. I moved my books so she had more space. “Do you want to go?”

The last thing I was going to do was provide the media with a photo op of me standing around praying for Paige. “I don’t think I’m up for it,” I mumbled.

Drew reached over and grabbed the bag of chips back from me and opened them. “How did your meeting with the police go?”

“Fine.”

Drew folded one leg underneath her, settling in. “Seems the least they could do is tell you what’s going on.”

I wanted her to leave. I needed to think. I waved off the open bag of chips. The smell of nacho cheese made my stomach roll. “Sorry I didn’t answer your messages; the entire day has been exhausting.”

She ignored my subtle hint. Her foot nudged my leg. “It’ll be okay.”

“Maybe.” I lowered my voice. “I think the police suspect I had something to do with it.”

Drew’s face wrinkled up. “Why would they think that?”

“Because of the stuff I’ve known.” And because they would be right. I needed to talk to Paige, but whatever she was doing, she certainly wasn’t answering the phone. I’d called roughly a million times. My eyes fell onto my bag on the floor. I willed the phone inside to ring, but it was silent.

“Hey.”

I looked up.

Drew smiled. “I can see the wheels in your brain turning. I’m guessing you’re already picturing yourself in prison.”

“I would look like shit in an orange jumpsuit.”

She laughed like I was joking. “They can’t put you in jail when you haven’t done anything. All you did was give a prediction. If anything, you’ve been helpful.” Drew tossed another chip into her mouth, which was already full of carrot-colored mush. “You need to look at the bright side.”

“There is no bright side.”

“You’re getting tons of attention; everybody wants you to do a reading for them now. Seriously, everybody.”

“Attention is the last thing I want,” I said.

“I know you hate feeling hassled, so I started a list of people who want you to read their cards,” Drew said. “I told them not to bug you. The only way they get on the list is by talking to me.” She pointed at her chest with her thumb and then leaned in. “Guess who is on there?”

“I have no idea.”

“Ben Adler.” Drew leaned back and smiled. “Only the very person you’ve had a crush on since eighth grade.”

“It wasn’t a crush,” I insisted. “I just thought he was nice and, you know, kinda cute.”

“Earth to Skye—” Drew thumped the side of her head. “That’s the definition of a crush. Get this: he wants you to come to his house to give him a reading. Apparently his dog died a couple years ago, and he wants to know if you can put him in touch with her.”

The idea of pretending to send messages over the Rainbow Bridge to Ben’s long-lost Lab filled my stomach with a fresh dose of acid. “I don’t know if I can.”

“I told him a home reading was going to be sixty bucks.”

I was so shocked I knocked over my water, sending a puddle all over the coffee table. I yanked the magazines out of the way before they got soaked. “Sixty dollars?”

“You’re going over to his house—that’s pretty good service. A reading at school is only thirty.”

“I’ve never charged more than ten,” I said. There were times when I did it just for free beer at a party. Even my mom only charged forty, and she was the professional. I’d never imagined being able to make that kind of money.

Drew passed me a wad of Kleenex to blot up the water. “Way too low. Especially with all that’s going on.”

“I wish you hadn’t done that.”

“Why? With me to organize things, we can make some serious cash in the next few weeks.” She held her hand out for me to high-five.

“It has nothing to do with you,” I pointed out. “You wouldn’t even care if it wasn’t Paige.”

Drew stiffened. “Is that what this is about? What’s your issue with her?”

“My issue is that you won’t admit you have a thing for her.”

“I don’t have a thing. So I like her, what’s the big deal?”

“She’s not a nice person.”

“You don’t like anyone in that crowd.” Drew shook her head. “And if you don’t like Paige, why are you trying to help her now?”

I bit my tongue to keep myself from saying anything I shouldn’t. I didn’t even know why I was fighting with Drew. “I don’t know why I even said that.”

“I don’t either,” Drew fired back.

A ring blared from my bag. I was about to ignore it when I realized it was the burner phone. I jumped up, fishing for it madly amongst all the other crap I was carrying around. “I have to take this,” I babbled to Drew, then jabbed the button just before it cut off.

“Hey, can you talk?” Paige’s voice seemed incredibly loud.

My heart rabbited into overdrive when I heard her voice. “Hang on.” I stepped closer to the kitchen, away from Drew.

“I can call later if now’s a bad time,” Paige said.

“Don’t you dare fucking hang up,” I whispered into the phone.

“Language, language,” she said.

“Sure, Mr. Lester,” I said loud enough for Drew to hear me. “Just a minute.” I put the phone down on the counter and took a deep calming breath, before ducking back into the living room. “Listen, I have to talk to Mr. Lester. He got some information from the police.”

Drew’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “You want me to leave?”

“It needs to be private because of the investigation—it’s, uh, still active.”

Drew stared at me, then grabbed her bag. “You can just say you don’t want me here. You know I would never say anything. You don’t have to lie.”

“Drew—”

“Whatever. See you tomorrow.” The door shut behind her.

I wanted to go after her, but I didn’t have time. I’d make it up to her once all of this was over. I ran back to the kitchen and picked up the phone, praying she was still there.

“Hellooo,” she sang out.

My limbs felt loose with relief at finally hearing from her. I scurried back to my room and shut the door. I hunched over my phone. “This isn’t a joke,” I said. “Where the hell are you?”

“Look, I called to say I’m sorry—”

“Sorry?” I cut her off. “You realize I sent the cops on this wild goose chase, right?” I had so much built-up energy I felt as if I could have run up and down a thousand steps without breaking a sweat.

“It wasn’t exactly a bust; they know I was kept there. Have you seen the diary pages?”

I clenched my fist.

“Listen, Paige—”

“Pluto! Seriously, how freaking hard is it to remember one single name?”

“Do not yell at me,” I yelled back. I counted to ten. “Why weren’t you at the cabin?”

“I needed some breathing space.” Paige sighed. “I told you to play this my way, but you didn’t believe me. Besides, I didn’t tell you I’d be there. I told you to tell them about the cabin. You just assumed I’d be there. Have you been watching the news? I hoped they would show a shot of my parents, but so far there’s only been the statement from Gregory, our family lawyer, saying that the family was praying for my safety and requesting that if anyone knew anything to please call the police.”

“Yeah. I saw that,” I said, my voice flat.

“He read the statement off a piece of paper. He didn’t even look up into the camera. It was a missed opportunity, if you ask me. If my family really wants me home, they should have made an emotional plea themselves.”

“Maybe they’re too upset.”

“Could be. My dad must be all broken up, because trust me, that guy never turns down an opportunity for some camera time.”

Paige sounded elated. Like things were going brilliantly. If I could have reached through the phone, I would have choked her. “I’m not sure if you understand how serious this is.”

“Have the police mentioned the failure to pay ransom to you yet? My dad and Gregory must be scrambling to keep that particular detail out of the press, but sooner or later, it’ll leak. I made sure to have a big boo-hoo about all of that in my diary. It’s going to cost him way more than what we asked for to rehabilitate his reputation when it hits the news.”

I paced back and forth in front of the tiny space by my bed. “Are you enjoying this?”

She laughed. “God, yes! Doesn’t everyone have this daydream? The one where you’ve died in some kind of tragic accident, the kind that still lets you leave behind a beautiful corpse and everyone has gathered at your funeral. They’re all crying and declaring how they should have been so much nicer to you when you were alive and how their lives will be empty, shitty shells without you.” She sounded almost manic.

“Are you ever coming back?” I hated how my voice sounded like I was begging.

Paige clucked. “Aw, do you miss me?”

I bit down so hard I thought I could hear my teeth creak as they ground together, threatening to crack.

“Don’t worry. I don’t plan to stay gone forever, but I do need enough time for people find out my dad didn’t pay the ransom.”

I forced myself to take a deep breath the way Lester had taught me. “Do you get what a big story this has become? I’m in the middle of all of it, and the pressure is huge.” The press had been outside our apartment again this morning, this time several groups, and before heading out, my mom had primped for her now daily press conference. My efforts to make her stop were about as effective as trying to reason with waves coming to shore.

Everyone at school was talking about it. When I looked around, people were looking back. They were watching me. There were whispers in corners, and people ducking behind locker doors to hiss “that’s her” to their friends as I walked past.

“. . . People magazine!” Paige said, and I realized I’d stopped paying attention.

“Wait, what?”

Paige sighed impatiently. “I said, there’s a rumor my story is going to be in People.”

I couldn’t imagine what to say to that.

“Sure, it’s no Vogue or InStyle, but still, it’s pretty cool. Attention like that could open doors. You never know what might happen.”

I closed my eyes. She totally didn’t get it. Once people had the bright light on you, they started to notice the cracks and imperfections. It was better to stay in the shadows—safer.

“This wasn’t supposed to be about fame,” I said.

“It’s better than nothing,” she fired back. “Listen, I had my own reasons for doing this, but now I’m in a situation where I’m figuring out what I can salvage. I know what you’re thinking, that this is some vanity thing, but that’s not true.” Paige paused. “Well, it’s not entirely that. I might be able to make something out of this mess. I promise if I make any money I’ll share it with you. Lots of places pay big for interviews, you know. It could be lucrative, maybe even more than the ransom.”

“This is going to blow up in our faces,” I said, putting into words my biggest fear. I’d been caught in a lie once, and this would make the situation with my fake dad look like a walk in the park. “If you think the media loves a story about a missing rich girl, try and imagine what they will do if it comes out that you faked the whole thing. They’ll eat you alive.”

Paige was silent. Maybe she was picturing the headlines, the shaking head of some news anchor, repulsed as she told the story.

“I want out of this. I can’t make you come back, but I don’t have to participate.” I hoped I sounded stern and sure of myself.

“Jesus, will you lighten up? That’s why I called. I’m coming back. I just needed to give everyone one more day to figure out the stuff with the ransom. I need you to have one final vision.”

The tension that had been wrapped around my chest like a coil of barbed wire suddenly went slack. I felt as if I could take a deep breath for the first time in days. The top of my scalp prickled. This would be over soon.

“Tell me where you are.”

“I’m bunking down in one of the fruit stands that’s closed up for the season.”

There were tons of seasonal sheds that local farmers used during the summer to sell their produce to tourists on their way to their vacation homes. “Why would the kidnappers take you to a fruit stand?”

“Who knows why anyone does anything? I’ll say they drove me there and tied me up. Give me extra credit for planning ahead.”

I spit a sliver of fingernail out. She loved reminding me that she was always two steps ahead of me. “Okay. I’ll have images of fruit and that it is some kind of store. Which one is it? Is it close to the lake?”

“Yeah, you can see the water from here.”

“Okay, I’ll include a hint of water too.”

“You better have something else, to lead them,” Paige said. “They need to find me pretty quick because I’m going to be stuck tied up. Mention a dancing banana. It’s on the sign. My mom will recognize it right off the bat. We used to come out here when I was a kid. It’s on County Road Forty, the one that hooks up to Traverse City. There’s a horse farm across the street.”

I scribbled the details down. “Okay, I got it. I’m going to go to the cops first thing in the morning before school.”

Paige sighed. “I guess that’s it, then.”

“I guess,” I said. “You are going to be there this time, right?” I wanted her to promise, even though I knew by now I couldn’t trust a word out of her mouth.

“Yes, this time I’ll be there.” She sounded tired of my questions. “You can’t blame me for having a backup plan.”

“I blame you for not telling me everything.”

“For someone who likes to see herself as jaded, you’re freakishly naïve. Darling Skye—I picked you because you are the type to not ask too many questions. You want to believe everything happens for a reason, but the real reason is because other people make those things happen. You keep waiting for luck to lead you, and you aren’t going to get anywhere.”

I stared at the phone. I had no idea what to say.

“If it makes you feel better, even though you can be a real bore, you’ve been a good partner. I wish I could have gotten you the money. You deserve it.”

“Thanks,” I mumbled and then was pissed at myself for thanking her for fucking up my life.

She laughed. “Once I’m back, we’ll go out. I’ll tell you everything. Trust me, there are things you will not believe.”

“But—”

“See you tomorrow.” She clicked off the phone.

After Paige hung up, I dropped my head between my knees until I got my breathing back under control. My guts cramped, and I bent farther over my knees. I couldn’t pull in enough air. Panic was starting to set in.

I stumbled out into the living room. My mom stood in the open door, her purse under her arm and keys in her hand.

“I’m going out,” I said.

“Skye, baby, we should talk. I heard about what happened today.”

I cut her off. “Spare me how you’re upset that I didn’t tell you about my vision first. What you’re really mad about is that you didn’t have a chance to run to reporters before anyone else.”

She pulled back, shocked, and I winced. Lately I was incapable of not offending everyone around me. “I’ll be back later.”

“Skye—”

“Later.” I stepped past her quickly as if she might try and stop me, and headed out into the night.